Supporting Your Child’s Reading
Research shows that the single most effective way to improve a child’s reading ability is by reading! It is recommended that Primary aged school children should read at home every day for 20 minutes. This time should be an easy and fun process, not one which creates a daily battle. The easiest way for this to happen is to make reading an enjoyable experience for all involved by mixing up the reading that takes place. This might include:
- Your child(ren) reading to you
- You reading to your child(ren)
- Taking turns to read a page each
- Your child(ren) reading silently
- Your child listening to an ebook
Sumner School Library
Our school library is well resourced to help support your child(ren)’s reading at home. Our new library website will keep you updated about what’s happening in the library and the new books we have in school, as well as allowing you to keep up to date with your child(ren)’s loans. Each child has a unique username and password for this site. Please contact your child(ren)’s teacher if your child can not remember their login details.
e-books
e-books are a fantastic resource for reading as they provide a different, more interactive medium for reading. Research from the UK’s National Literacy Trust’s study into the impact of e-books on children’s reading attitudes, attainment and behaviour revealed positives across the board. Children’s reading ability improved as a result of using e-books, and the effect was particularly marked in boys: over the four-month study, the average boy’s reading level increased by over eight months. Girls benefited too, with their reading level going up by over seven months. However, using e-books doesn’t just have a positive impact on reading ability, according to the study. The number of boys who had previously found reading difficult fell, and twice as many thought reading was ‘cool’ after the project.
- Epic: https://www.getepic.com/
- Storyline: https://storylineonline.net/
- Children’s Treasure Chest: https://www.rnz.co.nz/collections/storytime-treasure-chest
Book Lists
The Book Trust has compiled a list of the 100 best books over the past 100 years. Click on the links below to see books that are suited to your child(ren)’s age.
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Other useful resources
Dogo News and Kiwi Kids News provide real-world news articles
aimed at children in Years 4-8.
These are the links to Scholastic’s list of 100 Best Kiwi Books and Whitcoull’s list of Top 50 Books for children.
